Chapter 4: 7, 8…Break!
"Naruto, you know this class is for graduates, right?" Shikamaru said to the spiky blonde. The blonde stared at Shikamaru with squinted eyes, implying that he wasn't dumb.
"Do you not see the headband on my head?" Naruto replied, pointing to the blue leaf ninja forehead protector that covered the roots of his blonde hair. "That's right! I graduated, ya better believe it!" Naruto gave his famous wide-mouthed grin.
"So, you're a ninja finally…" Shikamaru sighed, "I hope I don't have to do any missions with you, you'd probably be really troublesome…" Shikamaru walked away from Naruto's table and Naruto responded with a growl and a glare. He put his head down on the table and decided to look around the room. He turned around to the back to find a Hinata staring at him with wide eyes. He grinned and gave her a thumbs up.
Hinata softened her eyes and gave him a sweet smile. Just when Naruto was about to get up and sit next to her, two females bursted into the room. "I'm first!" they both shouted as they began arguing about who was actually first. Naruto stared at the girl with the magenta jacket and the pink hair. Hinata noticed a slight blush on his cheeks and turned around to see Sakura, one of her former classmates. Hinata sighed and turned back around to face the front of the classroom. Naruto…I wonder about your taste in women…. Hinata thought as she started doodling in her notebook. Sakura was the total opposite of Hinata. She was smart, rude, and loud (when she wanted to be), but, most of all, she cared for one person and one person only…
Hinata looked up again at Naruto when Sakura pushed him out of the way to greet Sasuke, the boy that was sitting next to Naruto. She was going to help Naruto when a bunch of girls crowded around the table near him. They mostly argued about who was going to sit next to Sasuke. Hinata could careless about that guy, but she knew she wasn't going to be able to break through that group to help Naruto.
Naruto ended up back on his feet, and due to anger, he squatted on the table facing Sasuke. All of the girls were yelling at him to get out of Sasuke's face and to leave him alone, except Hinata. She was worried if Naruto was going to get hurt or not. She got up out of her chair and suddenly saw the unexpectable happen. Somebody bumped into Naruto from behind and Naruto propelled forward, pushing his lips against Sasuke's lips. Everyone was shocked to see what happened, even Naruto and Sasuke! Naruto quickly unlocked his lips from Sasuke's and started spitting on the ground. Sasuke did the same as well. The girls were furious with Naruto for letting what happened happen. Hinata froze in her spot. She saw Sakura and Ino ball up their fists. "Naruto, watch out!" Hinata tried to warn him, but it was too late. Naruto turned around to meet the various punches from Sasuke's fan girls.
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Iruka came in right before any damage was done, and he broke up the fight between Naruto and the girls. Unable to move from his spot after his beat down, Naruto stayed in his previous seat, sitting in between a grossed-out Sasuke and an angry Sakura.
Hinata thought about sitting next to Naruto, but she would have to ask Sasuke or Sakura to move from their seats. If she asked Sakura, she would probably get hit by Sakura, and if she asked Sasuke… she'd still get hit by Sakura. So, she stayed in her seat, glancing over at Naruto's table every now and then.
Once everything was settled, Iruka began the meeting with the new ninja.
"Today, class, is your first day as genins." He said with happiness, "So, we won't have a very long class today. What we will do today is divide you into groups of three." Iruka looked at the roll sheet that he had in his hand. The class was nervous to find out who was in which group.
Ino sat behind Sakura, which was as close to Sasuke as possible for now. She leaned forward in her seat and whispered to Sakura, "Well, I guess somebody has to be in Sasuke's group." Sakura looked back at Ino and seemed serious. "Yeah, I guess so." She replied. Cha! Of course it's gonna be me! No doubt about that! Sakura thought to herself.
Sasuke sighed to himself, the thought of being in a group angered him. Being in a group is only gonna hold me back.
Iruka put the group list in front of him. "I'll call the groups only once. When I call each group, I will give you a room number. You are to wait for your assigned sensei in the designated room once I release you from class. Am I clear?"
The students replied in unison, "Yes, Iruka-sensei." Iruka smiled and called the first group.
Naruto wasn't paying attention to any of the names that he called. He was so anxious to hear his name that he was imagining the group that he was in. I know that Sakura's gonna be in my group. And the other person… oh, I don't care, as long as it's not Sasuke. Probably Hinata… I wonder if you can have two girls on one team?...
Hinata was also imagining who would be in her group. I would really like to be with Naruto… but I have to think practically. The groups were probably divided by strengths and weaknesses. So who would benefit from my strength, and whom would I benefit from with my weakness?...Hinata debated on who the last people would be until Iruka finally called a familiar name.
"Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki…" Naruto finally paid attention when he heard his name.
"…Sakura Haruno…" Naruto grinned at Sakura, while Sakura sighed. "I'm doomed for life." She muttered to herself.
"… and Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura's face suddenly gleamed with joy. Sasuke's in my group! No way! She squealed on the inside.
Naruto sighed in disappointment. The last person he wanted to be stuck with was Sasuke. He practically hated him for getting more attention than he did with the girls and the teachers. He glared over at Sasuke menacingly. Sasuke caught his glare and looked at him the same way.
"Team 7 will meet in Room 206." Iruka stated, looking at Naruto to wait for his reply. Naruto took his glare away from Sasuke and stared at Iruka. He sighed and nodded in agreement with his statement. Iruka smiled and put his eyes back on the paper, "Next group…"
Hinata seemed sort of disappointed also when she found out Naruto was definitely not going to be in her group. So, if I'm not going to be with Naruto, then who did the Hokage paired me up with? Or, whoever it was that paired us up…
"Team 8:" Iruka said, "Hinata Hyuuga…" Hinata paid attention to her team.
"…Kiba Inuzuka…" Kiba smirked when he heard his name. Hinata looked at her new teammate from the back of the class.
"… and Shino Aburame." Shino made a soft sigh, but no one heard it. Hinata raised her eyebrow when she realized who was on her team. I have a teammate who has a dog as a partner and a bug lover… How do these guys help my strengths and weaknesses?
Hinata thought about that long and hard. She didn't listen to anything else Iruka said, all she heard in the background was the whispered bickering between Sakura and Ino and the dispute Naruto was having of him being in the same group with Sasuke. She couldn't figure it out, so she decided to think about it another time.
"Team 8 will meet in Room 207." Iruka stated. Hinata and her teammates all nodded in agreement.
Once the meeting was officially over, Hinata walked out of the room. Naruto snuck up behind her and tried to scare her, but Hinata saw his shadow on the floor along with his spiky hair. They walked together, up the stairs to the second floor.
"So, are you excited about your group?" Hinata asked Naruto.
"I guess so…" Naruto replied, putting his hands behind his head, "I'm fine being in a group with Sakura, but I don't really care for Sasuke." He stretched his arms upward and put his hands behind his head. "I was actually thinking I was gonna be teamed up with you."
Hinata smiled, "I thought so, too, but then I thought about it, and our fighting skills don't compliment each other."
"Our fighting skills?" Naruto asked, "What does fighting skills have to do with this?"
"Everything." She answered, "Having a partner means you have to work together as one. By doing so, your fighting skills must compliment your partner's fighting skills. The greater your skills compliment your partner, the greater help you'll be to each other."
Naruto sighed, "So how do my skills compliment with Sasuke's?"
"Well, Sasuke has the technique and… well, almost everything. But he's not really good at… well, now that you mention it, I don't really see your compliments at all…" Hinata responded.
Naruto grinned, "See my point? I have no reason to be on the same team with this guy."
"That doesn't make sense," Hinata thought aloud, "Well; of course Sasuke has a lot of things that you can learn from him, but… I'm not sure what he can learn from you."
Naruto squinted his eyes, "I take that offensively." Hinata laughed at his comment.
They both arrived in front of their rooms. Hinata turned to Naruto and smiled again, "Well, I guess we'll see each other when the meetings are over."
"Meet me at the mountains?" Naruto suggested.
"Sure, no problem." Hinata responded. With that, they departed from each other and went into their separate rooms.
Naruto walked into his room to see Sakura standing up, while Sasuke stood in a seat a couple of inches away from her.
"Oh, it's just you." Sakura said disappointed.
"Hi, Sakura!" Naruto smiled, and then looked over at Sasuke. "Sasuke…" he muttered. The only thing he heard from him was a "hmph" sound. "So, where's our sensei?" Naruto asked.
"That's what we're trying to figure out." Sakura replied, "He was supposed to be here before we even got here."
"Hmm……… Maybe he got bored and went to get something to eat…" Naruto said while shrugging his shoulders.
Sakura sighed, "Well, as long as we're not kept waiting too long, then I'll be fine." She sat in a seat next to Sasuke, while Naruto leaned against a wall.
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At the same time in the next room over, Hinata walked in and saw Kiba in a seat and Shino standing up in the middle of the room.
"Well, that's three here, one missing." Kiba said as he watched Hinata walk through the door.
"H-Hello…" she said in her timid voice. She looked around and saw her teammates, but there wasn't a sensei in sight. "Where's our sensei?"
"That's the one missing…" Shino responded, "She should've been here before any of us showed up."
"My guess is that they had a late meeting for all of the senseis." Kiba suggested.
"And my guess is that you're right." A random voice responded. The trio turned toward the door to notice a very young, beautiful woman blocking the entrance. Kiba grinned at her, Hey, she's pretty cute. What is she doing here?
Hinata stared and blushed, she's really pretty… "Um, excuse me miss…..Do you know where our sensei is?" she asked the woman.
She smiled and stared at the three, "You're looking at her."
Kiba and Hinata were shocked, while Shino straightened his sunglasses. "W-Wait a minute, how can you be our sensei?" Kiba asked, "You're not old!"
The woman chuckled at his statement, "I'll take that as a compliment. My name is Kurenai, and I'll be your sensei until you three rank up to the chuunin level." She opened the door, motioning the three to follow her. "Why don't we go outside and get some fresh air?"
The genin step out into the hallway and make their way to the stairs when they're stopped by another voice.
"So, this is Team 8," said a random man. Kurenai turned to see a man with silver hair and a slanted headband covering his left eye. She smiled, and the others turned around to see Team 7.
"Yep, this is my team," Kurenai said as she looked at the students on his team. "Your team doesn't look half bad, either."
"Thanks." He replied. Hinata smiled at Naruto, who in turn gave her a grin.
"Team 8, this is Kakashi, one of the 10 senseis that were assigned this year. If I am absent from a mission, there is a possibility that he might take over for me." Kurenai explained to her team.
"Hello there. Same for you three, Kurenai may take over for Team 7 if I am absent from duty." Kakashi explained to his team. "On special missions, you three might have to work with Team 8. Be sure to get acquainted with all of the genin."
The two teams walked down the stairs together. Kiba and Shino seemed to be talking with each other, while Sakura was following Sasuke. Hinata and Naruto walked with each other down the stairs, reminding each other to meet at the mountains. The two teams separated once they were outside. Hinata waved to the three genin, and Sakura and Naruto waved back.
"You guys have been friends for a while, haven't you?" Sakura asked Naruto
"More than a while." Naruto responded as Team 7 finally walked away from the Academy.
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Naruto and Hinata sat on the mountains, waiting for the sun to set. They were telling each other about how their first meeting went, and Naruto's seemed much more interesting than Hinata's.
"I so think that sensei of ours is a fake. I mean, who falls for the eraser-on-the-head trick anymore? Anyways, we did the same thing your team did. We introduced ourselves. All I learned out of that is that Sakura seriously hates me for no reason at all, and that Sasuke is a total weirdo." He sighed and placed his hands behind his head as he leaned backwards onto the ground.
"Oh, don't worry. Things will get better between your group." Hinata said, "All I learned from my team is that Shino has an obsession for bugs and that Kiba likes animals, especially dogs. You won't become close friends in just one day." She smiled as Naruto looked over at her.
"Then what exactly happened between you and I that we knew each other like a book in one week?" he asked her.
"Hmm…maybe we thought we were creatures from another world." Hinata replied. They both laughed. Before the pair knew it, the sky turned lovely shade of pink mixed with the orange of the setting sun.
"Looks like we'll have to visit here more often." Hinata commented.
"How about every day? After training, missions, everything, we just meet right here before the sun sets." Naruto asked her.
"You've got your self a deal." Hinata answered. They both smiled at each other as they watched the sun go down together.